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Roll Call/June 2010
|} The June 2010 issue of Roll Call was Volume One, Issue One, and was released electronically on the 8th of June, 2010. PDF Version *Click here to download the issue in PDF format Online Version Director's Dialog Welcome to the very first issue of Roll Call - our brand new monthly newsletter to all members of O.G.R.E.s. After celebrating our fifth birthday last month on May 24th, and after acknowledging our great growth over the last year, we decided it was time to provide a frequent source of news, entertainment, discussion, and assistance to all of our members. And here we are! Let me be the first to say that I’m no writer, so try your best to ignore any badly written ramblings of mine. Chalk it up to excitement! I’ve been overwhelmed with the success of O.G.R.E.s and can’t even begin to describe the way it feels to be leading such a wonderful group. I believe a song once mentioned that shades were appropriate when a future is bright, so we may be investing in free sunglasses for all members! Our growth has been phenomenal! From one self-existing chapter to two took three years, and now here we are on year 5 with over 20 active chapters - and over 10 more in prospecting and planning stages! Every one of us is a part of something bigger than we you may imagine. We’re the fastest growing gamer-ran free organization in the world, and our focus (unlike other clubs) isn’t devoted to one game or company or system or style of gaming - but to all! We found our niche and nobody does it better than us. Over the next few months you’ll see a much changed OgreLair.org and more frequent sightings of your officers here - and we look forward to meeting every new Ogre! - Director SDM's Monologue My word of the month is: Communication. The irony? The next few paragraphs may not properly convey my point. Communication is a basic function of pretty much every lifeform. It exists in any interaction between peoples. In this modern age, communication beyond face-to-face contact is easier than ever. Cell phones, social networking sites, video chat; you can pretty much stay connected to others at all times. Despite that, humans still often fail to communicate well. Speaking clearly, making intentions known, asking questions when knowledge is lacking, and answering questions when knowledge is present; simple things like these can make any interactions easier and more efficient. Good communication can save time, money, relationships, and even lives. It's also an integral part of good group gaming (Oh, the many blogs that could be written expounding on its virtues). Without proper communication gamers find themselves fighting over whether or not that artifact had already been tapped when the instant was cast, bemoaning the tragic loss of their elven bard accidentally caught in the blast of a fireball, and baffled as to why their 40-man raid group got wiped halfway through the instance. When gamers communicate well, however, they find that their games run smoother, their groups work more in sync, and their 'pwnage' runs deeper. Communication is one of the easiest, yet most overlooked steps towards success. This holds true for interpersonal relationships, gaming groups, businesses, and national organizations... like the OGREs. Our organization needs your help to flourish. We need to have good communications between individuals and between chapters. As the Supreme Dungeon Master, I implore all the Senior Dungeon Masters to keep lines of communication open and heavily used. On a local level, it helps facilitate a good gaming environment for players, lessens the impact of scheduling conflicts, and keeps interventions to a minimum. On a national level, it strengthens the cohesiveness of our young organization, provides potentially useful statistics on gaming, and gives all of us Ogres more to brag about. So please, try to communicate well with the Chapter Coordinator, the other members of your chapter, and the Supreme DM. It's beneficial to everybody; and everybody is everything. Good luck and good gaming! - Supreme Dungeon Master Dir. of Comms. Update After much hard work herding the world’s largest collection of procrastinators, we’ve now managed to put together your very first issue of Roll Call. This proudly mediocre newsletter is for you, the ogre, to keep up with what other chapters and the organization at large is doing. And we want to hear from you! If you’ve got an upcoming event you’d like to let other members know about, or some good chapter/member news, or just something gaming related to get off your chest - send us a line! You don’t have to be a great writer with perfect grammar (as you can tell from the current collection of contributors) in order to make the cut. Actually, all you’ve got to do is hit send! One item we’re trying to create is a database of member birthdays and anniversaries, so we can highlight those events on our monthly calendar each release. (for you ladies, feel free to leave the year off if you want to turn 21 every year! We won’t say anything.) A collection of officer emails is listed for your convenience on the final page of Roll Call, and you can submit articles or blurbs to me at the email found there. - Director of Communications Editor's Corner Hey guys! Its Davo here, your new OGRE Editor-in-Chief, just checking in. We've got a lot of upcoming changes here around the OGRE Lair, so keep an eye out for what is to come! As a quick introduction, I suppose, I shall let everyone know that my intention as Editor is to, first and foremost, make sure all the current content available is grammatically and typographically accurate, to the best of my ability. Parallel to that in importance is making sure everything is well composed and a worthwhile read. I know from personal experience that great concepts can turn sour by poor content, and that is something we do not wish to fall victim to here. As a second order of business, if any chapter or person associated with the OGREs has any fiction writing from personal 'homebrew' settings, games, etc... and would like to submit them for review to be added to the Wiki and the OGREs mainstay literature, just send it to me and I'll review it, edit it, and respond with its acceptance or declination, but never will I decline without a reason and a way to amend what you submit for further consideration once altered. That's all for now, as I don't have much time - As I write this I'm actually away from the Serenity game with our Supreme DMs car, so he is probably waiting for me to return so he can know with full assurance that his car is safe. Until next time... - Editor-in-Chief Webmaster's World Salutations Ogres, and welcome to the wondrous machinations of my mind. Yeah, you’re not going to like being here. It’s jumbled, there are bugs running all over the place, and I think there is a hobo in the corner. Not sure if he is alive or not, being as I’m not going to get any closer to him. You can, but I’m going to stay over here. Anyway, the reason you’re actually here is because according to Field Marshall Hooper, I needed to expand upon my intentions and activities as the WebMaster for the Quilt City O.G.R.E.s and the organization in general. Which, I will have to admit up front. Its slow going and laborious work, I am completely over my head in responsibilities and requirements of tasks to be completed… But I’m still working at it. So what is it that I am attempting to achieve? For the ‘right now’, I am handling little tweaks and changes throughout the content of the current web sites we have to keep things at least moving. A process that typically includes pushing Hooper into doing some of the work (communications correction: all) , something that I intend to eventually put an end to entirely! ( You hear that Hooper? Trying to cut you some slack. So stop being a baby. =P ) Now, all of these little changes to keep things running aren’t going to cut it for the long-term, and that is what brings to my ending point and even a request. I am attempting to redesign the main sites using Drupal, a content management system that I am only barely getting into experience with. I want to make a central hub that would broadcast any information we have to various sub-sites (such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) all from within the core site itself. To help bring everyone in and actually build a community for all O.G.R.E.s, and not just the Quilt City chapter. So, does anyone happen to have a clue about Drupal? I’d be your best friend for like, evers and evers, if you could help an Ogre out. Srsly, email me. Get in touch with me if you think you’d be interested and capable! - Webmaster Ask a Dungeon Master *To see this article, please visit Ask a Dungeon Master: Welcome! Advocacy and You *To see this article, please visit Tuesday Truths: The Ellusive Girl Gamer. Chapter Spotlight This month we spotlight the Sin City Ogres of Las Vegas, Nevada! The Sin City Ogres were the first recognized chapter of the Organization of Gamers & Roleplaying Enthusiasts, and operated within Las Vegas, Nevada. Though the chapter was not active in the actual incorporation and spread of the club, members did provide permission, support, and use of the logo for the new chapters. Today, the Sin City Ogres are part of the larger Vegas Gamers group. Originating on yahoo groups on May 24th, 2005 - the chapter is based in the Las Vegas region of Nevada. They hold mostly RPGA events at The Las Vegas Library. They actually first used the term “Sin City RPGA” because it was their focus, but after being informed of the legalities preventing them from using the RPGA name, they took a poll among members of their group for a new name. Mike Sanchez, who would eventually create the logo that featured our now-mascot Oggie the Ogre, was the individual who promoted the name of “Sin City Organization of Gamers & Roleplaying Enthusiasts’ and after several discussions, the name was chosen. Today the group exists as a RPGA-themed portion of the larger group known as Vegas Gamers. It was with the permission and encouragement from founding members Doug and Mike that the Quilt City Ogres would adopt the name and logo in 2006, and eventually go on to found the organization that we now exist within. Most recently, the chapter was awarded the Green Iconic Party award for five years of being active - the only chapter to currently have the prestigious award. *Name: Sin City Ogres *Location: Las Vegas, NV *Founded: May 24, 2010 *# of Active Members: 14 *Chapter Coordinator: Doug Daulton *Senior Dungeon Master: Mike Sanchez *Website: VegasGamers.org Member Spotlight Our spotlighted member for the month of June is Charles Ringstaff - the Chapter Coordinator for the upstart Derby City Ogres of Louisville, Kentucky. Charles, who is also known as Chuck or Chawles depending on your southern drawl, is originally from Paducah where he was a member of the Quilt City Ogres. He is currently attending the University of Louisville along with other former Quilt City Ogre-turned-Derby City Ogre members Ryan Edwards and James “Wames” Wallace. In his free time, Chuck attends events with his fraternity mates and gaming. Some of his best game experiences have been with Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars (the CCG and the RPG), and Magic: The Gathering. He is one of the few, the proud, the Shitkickers - an elite PC force from one of the great campaigns ran by chapter-mate Wames. If you’re in the Louisville area and looking for a game, contact Charles via email at darth_maxis AT hotmail DOT com. He has informed us that the ladies may definitely contact him. Character's Corner Today we’ll be highlighting characters from a ongoing play test of a forthcoming Hex Games release that is still untitled. The working title of “Super Zeroes” is pretty descriptive though, in that you take on the role of a arguably “super” “hero” whose powers are very minimal compared to standard heroes. The following characters are part of the fictional and horribly-named hero team the “Hall of Cosmonauts” and you can keep up with their fictional exploits on twitter.com/HallOCosmonauts. *Captain Condom: A never-around-when-you-need-him hero with a vast rogues gallery of nemesis *Space Monkey: A Russian test monkey who was abandoned in space only to be touched by Cosmic Rays and transformed into a hyper-intelligent sentient being. *Jetsam: The freshwater hero and plumber whose offices double as a hideout (the BASEment) and whose work truck (the Jetruck) helps fight crime. *El Tequila Loco: A touch-telepath OB/GYN with a true passion for lucha-libre wrestling and the inability to talk to women. *Salvage Girl: A hobo who keeps finding things during battles to take to the recycling center for cash. Game of the Month The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (PFRPG) is a role-playing game published by Paizo Publishing that extends and modifies the Dungeons & Dragons rules from the 3.5 Edition of the game as published under the Open Game License. Pathfinder RPG is intended to be compatible with the extensive body of expansion materials available for D&D 3.5. In most cases this means adding rules instead of subtracting. This compatibility is not perfect: a 16-page guide (which can be downloaded from Paizo's website) is necessary to convert a 3.5 character into a Pathfinder character, and sometimes this goal was broken to meet other goals. The Pathfinder RPG's playtesting was the largest open roleplaying game playtest in the world at the time. It was released in a number of steps, and anyone could contribute to the playtesting on Paizo Publishing's messageboards. Currently available for purchase is the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (pictured here), a Bestiary, modules, and a new line of miniatures made through Reaper Minis. Additionally, a new organization known as the Pathfinder Society is now enrolling. Company Profile It seems only appropriate to highlight Paizo Publishing - the makers of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game - during the month when it appears to be poised to pull a huge upset and outsell Dungeons & Dragons - a feat literally considered impossible by most. The game, published by Paizo, is a continuation with the 3.5 system in a modified way (almost unanimously considered great improvements to the system that has been dubbed 3.6) which came about after Wizards of the Coast pulled Paizo’s publishing deal for the monthly Dungeon/Dragon magazines. For a company snubbed by the publisher of D&D to come back, and potentially outsell them, is a story too good for a made-for-tv movie. The guys at Paizo truly deserve it for putting together - with a huge amount of input and support from regular gaming joes like all of us - this wonderful continuation of a beloved system. There now-famous open playtest of the game, which ended up being the longest in industry history, helped connect them with a fanbase that was angry with Wizards for their total abandonment of the edition in a sudden fashion. The CEO of Paizo is Lisa Stevens. Publisher Erik Mona is former Editor-in-Chief of Dragon. The former Editor-in-Chief of Dungeon is James Jacobs, who is now Editor-in-Chief of Pathfinder. Recent Awards ;Iconic Party (Green) :For 5 year old chapters :Sin City Ogres :May 24th, 2005 - 2010 ;Level 5 :For 5 years of membership :Doug Daulton ::CC of Sin City Ogres :Mike Sanchez ::SDM of Sin City Ogres ;NPC Accreditation :Non-member award for continued assistance and/or support to a chapter or OGREs as a whole :Crash Comics ::Quilt City Ogres ::Soil Ogres :The Escapist ::O.G.R.E.s :Hex Games ::O.G.R.E.s Recent Promotions ;Brandon Boatright :Sic City Ogres ::From Private to Corporal David Waddell :Quilt City Ogres (formerly Soil Ogres) ::From Knight-Champion to Field Marshal Jeff Dossett :Quilt City Ogres ::From Corporal to Sergeant Steve Johnson :Quilt City Ogres ::From Corporal to Sergeant Brandon Fritts :Tilghman Ogres ::From Private to Corporal Charles Burrow :Quilt City Ogres ::From Sergeant to Master Sergeant Loretta Burrow :Quilt City Ogres ::From Sergeant to Master Sergeant Upcoming Events JUNE, 2010 ;11th - 13th :OMGcon in Paducah, Kentucky ::Host: Tri-State Anime Promotional Society and the :::Quilt City Ogres (running the tabletop room only) :::Attendees: Soil Ogres, Tilghman Ogres, Saluki City Ogres, and Sic City Ogres. ;24th - 27th :Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio ::Host: Game Manufacturers Association :::Attendees: Quilt City Ogres ;26th :Vegas Game Day in Las Vegas, Nevada :::Host: Sin City Ogres :::Attendees: Sin City Ogres, Vegas Gamers JULY, 2010 ;4th :Independence Day across the United States of America ;25th - 31st :2nd of 3 annual Read an RPG Book in Public Week worldwide ::Host: TheEscapist.com ::Attendees: Hopefully everyone! ;31st :Vegas Game Day in Las Vegas, Nevada ::Host: Sin City Ogres ::Attendees: Sin City Ogres, Vegas Gamers Happy Birthdays June *Shane Jones, Senior DM, Sic City Ogres - June 15th, 1993 *James Wallace, Derby City Ogres - June 22, 1986 July *Nick Henley, CC, Saluki City Ogres - July 7th, 1988 *Maddye Johnson, Quilt City Ogres - July 24th Happy Anniversaries *No known member anniversaries in the upcoming months. For future releases of Roll Call, the O.G.R.E.s would like to highlight our married members by announcing anniversaries. Please contact the Director of Communications via the email on the final page of this newsletter and provide your anniversary. It may be the easiest way for you to get another reminder not to forget - and we can help keep that dog house void of human life a little longer! There are currently no known anniversaries during the month of June (so go get married slackers)! Officer Contact Information ;Director :Jake Kubitschek :: ;Vice Director :Hooper : ;Editor-in-Chief :David Waddell :Email ;Acting Treasurer :Hooper : ;Director of Communications :Hooper : ;Supreme Dungeon Master :Walter Pfeifer-Thompson :Email ;Webmaster :Shawn Cain :Email ;New Chapter Recruitment Committee :Hooper : ;Gaming Advocacy :Lacey Wilson : ;Marketing & Promotion :David Waddell : ;Roll Call Editor :Hooper : ;Assistant Editor :David Waddell : ;Roll Call Staff :Walter Pfeifer-Thompson : ;Lacey Wilson : ;Shawn Cain : ;Steve Johnson : ;Jake Kubitschek : ---- Back To: OgreLair.org → Organization of Gamers & Roleplaying Enthusiasts → Ogres Portal → Roll Call Category:Browse Category:Roll Call